PHOENIX – Packers President and CEO Ed Policy addressed a variety of topics while speaking to the Green Bay media for 30 minutes on Monday evening at the NFL Annual Meeting.
Here are five things we learned:
- Policy's confidence in Matt LaFleur and the Packers' leadership never wavered.
Despite outside rumblings about LaFleur's contract situation, Policy remained steadfast in his belief that LaFleur was the right head coach to lead the Packers into 2026 and beyond.
Policy said he knew going into the NFC Wild Card playoff game in Chicago that he wanted to extend LaFleur. While the 31-27 loss was disappointing for everyone involved, the setback did not alter Policy's long-range view and perspective.
Policy took time to let the dust settle on the 2025 season before meeting individually, and then collectively, with LaFleur, General Manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president of football operations Russ Ball.
After multiple weeks of conversation, all three agreed to "multi-year" contract extensions to remain in Green Bay.
"It's never been clearer to me that we have the right people in the right places and that they're all aligned," Policy said. "It doesn't mean our work is done. We've always got to work on communication. We've got to work on making sure that we continue to be aligned and certainly we're not all going to agree on every decision, but I feel great about the people, and I feel great about their level of communication with each other."
In regards to LaFleur, Policy said he was "a little bit shocked" regarding the in-season questions about the head coach's future given his track record and 76 regular-season wins since 2019.
In the midst of that run, LaFleur oversaw the monumental transition from future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, who's guided Green Bay to the playoffs three straight years with the NFL's youngest team.
Still, the biggest carrot remains in the garden, as the Packers search for their first Super Bowl appearance in 16 years.
"The fact that we haven't achieved our ultimate goal in the seven years he's been here, it's disappointing to him, it's disappointing to all of us," Policy said. "But again, I firmly believe he is the best coach for the Green Bay Packers at this point in time."
After the season ended, Policy said several veterans came to him directly to voice their support for LaFleur, who expressed his excitement at the NFC coaches breakfast on Monday about continuing his work as the Packers' head coach.
The goal now is to take another step, fully appreciating the frustration of some over recent playoff exits.
"I appreciate it and I wouldn't have it any other way," Policy said. "The second half of that Chicago game was very disappointing. We were all extremely frustrated. I know the fans are frustrated, and I wouldn't want them not to be frustrated. They're very passionate about our team, about our games and about the outcome of our games."
- No, the Packers are not selling the naming rights to Lambeau Field.
Policy addressed consternation over a recent Sports Business Journal story and questions about whether the Packers may consider selling the naming rights to its iconic stadium to counter private-equity funds flooding the NFL, a revenue stream Green Bay cannot entertain as a publicly owned team.
Policy said there are no plans to sell the stadium's naming rights, which originally was known as "New City Stadium" upon its construction in 1957 before being re-named to honor team founder Curly Lambeau after his passing in 1965.
Policy's call to action for the organization right now is to be more aggressive in its local and national business initiatives to stay competitive with the rapidly growing NFL.
But the Packers aren't interested in selling the naming rights to Lambeau Field to accomplish those goals. The Packers remain in strong place financially, which was vital during the organization's aggressive pursuit of Micah Parsons last August.
"We don't have the deep-pocket owner," Policy said. "We don't have the ability to sell minority stakes in our team for large sums of money, and we don't have public investment in the stadium.
"Without any of those revenue streams, we are gonna have to be very smart and very methodical in really our business model and that does not mean selling the naming rights to Lambeau Field, certainly no time soon. But it does mean being very thoughtful in ticket pricing. It means (being) very thoughtful in maybe some other sponsorship inventory that we have, things like our practice facility and our training facility."
- Lambeau Field stands on solid structural footing, too.
During a time in which multiple teams are working towards building new stadiums, recent renovations and a strong foundation have kept Lambeau in state-of-the-art condition.
The organization did a study a few years ago to see how the concrete and steel rebar of the stadium has weathered the past 60-plus years. Research showed the structure should remain in good standing for at least the next 50 years and probably much longer than that.
"The study would not go any further than (50 years), but it does have to remain state of the art," Policy said. "We are gonna have to continue to modernize it. It's also one of the most expensive stadiums in the entire league to operate because it is older, but we're gonna have to continue to maintain it and continue to modernize it and update it. It's just important that it remain not only iconic but also state of the art."
- Policy supports an 18-game regular season, but it won't happen this year.
Since the NFL expanded the regular season to 17 games five years ago, momentum has been building for the league to shift a model that consists of 18 regular-season games and two preseason.
Policy said he'd be in favor of it, though "it's not a possibility right now." The current NFL collective-bargaining agreement runs through 2030 season, so the NFL and NFLPA would have to modify that to make a change before then.
If an 18th game is eventually added, Policy acknowledged every NFL team likely would travel abroad for at least one game each season.
"We have adopted through the NFL's Global Marketing program three markets – that's Ireland, the U.K. and Germany," Policy said. "Playing in one of those markets I think would be beneficial so that not only are we marketing over there, not only are we getting some highlights and our games being shown over there, but the fans actually being able to see our players up close and personal, I think that would be a pretty neat thing."
- For the first time, the Packers have representation on both coach and GM committees.
With Policy's encouragement, LaFleur became a member of the NFL's head-coach subcommittee this offseason while Gutekunst joined the league's general manager advisory committee.
It gives the Packers a voice in two key areas, where LaFleur and Gutekunst can provide input directly to the NFL in addition to Policy serving on the NFL's audit, Hall of Fame and Fan Engagement and Major Event committees.
"One of the things we really wanted to focus on is having a little more relevance and a little more influence at the league level," Policy said. "Those committees existed, but the Packers never had representation on those committees. So, this will be the first time the Packers have had representation on either of those (head coach and GM) committees, and I'm happy that our guys agreed to serve on both of them."
